


Ozaki to Edamura

by xHalfPrincex



Category: Great Pretender (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Could be tied into Canon, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Trauma, Gen, How he went from Ozaki to Edamura, Hurt Edamura Makoto, Hurt No Comfort, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:28:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26861407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xHalfPrincex/pseuds/xHalfPrincex
Summary: Oneshot of how Makoto went from Ozaki Makoto to Edamura Makoto.
Relationships: Edamura Makoto & His Family, Edamura Makoto & Ozaki Miki, Edamura Makoto & Ozaki Seiji
Comments: 6
Kudos: 58





	Ozaki to Edamura

Edamura Makoto couldn't give a person the exact date he decided to change his last name. He could; however, say why. Ozaki Makoto was naive, a child that was ignorant of the outside world, of the dangers that people hid behind a masked persona. Of the lies, people could and would say to save their own skin, their inability to care for others even when they acted it. And so, as Ozaki Makoto, the third year in middle school, watched his father's face being shown on national TV, a part of him broke. The memories he created with the man that was his father rushed to him in a single moment. Ozaki Seiji was the man who called for justice to rain down on the evil, the one who protected the rights of others, and the lawyer who came out on top. The father who showed Makoto how to play soccer, who taught him to read, reminded him to study hard to make a name for himself and the one who became his role model now stood alongside law enforcement, not as a lawyer, but as a criminal. 

Ozaki Makoto was afraid of the paternal name that haunted him in his future. The constant tie to being the son of a heinous criminal who had no heart. Ozaki Makoto wanted to scream at the top of his lungs and tell them that the Ozaki Seiji standing on trial was not the father he knew. He didn't know anything about his involvement in human trafficking; he didn't know of the lies his father told other children to trust him. He didn't know why his father chose that life instead of the one with his family. He didn't know. 

But he wanted to. 

Every morning after Ozaki Seiji's trial, he fought with himself, unsure if he wanted to question the man who was now behind bars and would stay there for 10 years. (1)

**_10 years_** **.**

Would that even be enough to repent for the crimes committed? Makoto thought not. 10 years would not be enough for destroying the lives of countless children and his own family. None of those 10 years would amount to anything in the eyes of the young man. For the next month, Ozaki Makoto turned from the most social student in his school to a quiet young man until he could no longer take the anger that had built up. The stress of having to pay for the hospital bills of his mother, the constant whispers of classmates and teachers. The recognition of others when they heard his family name, it sent him to a world of hurt. He found himself home from school for a week, ignoring text messages from concerned friends, the calls from teachers asking if he needed anything. For that one week, he sold, disposed of, or destroyed anything that had to do with the name Ozaki. Somewhere in his mind, he knew his mother would be angry at what he was doing, but he would explain it to her later, his anger, confusion, sadness, and hurt. But here and now, he just didn't want anything to do with the surname Ozaki. He quickly grabbed a pair of scissors from his desk and made his way to where he knew his mother kept her scrapbooks. However, before he could get rid of the Ozaki in the pictures, he began to cry. Tears ran down his cheeks. He wanted to know where the father happily smiling with family went. He wanted to know what caused his father to do such a thing to a child. 

He wanted to know why he didn't choose Makoto.

That was how his mother found him when she arrived home from the hospital. Curled up with the last picture they took together as a family. Ozaki Miki looked around the house she had once shared with her family, looked back at the happy memories they created under one roof, and now she looked at how much hurt it gave her only son to live in the house brought by who knows what money. She made a decision then and there to release her son of all those thoughts, to begin a life where no one would whisper about them. Within the next two days, as she sent the young man to school, she called a real estate agent to help her sell her home and look for an apartment where she and her son could live anew. 

They got that chance, but only for a moment.

All of the wishes they had to start a new life was just that, wishes. It wasn't long before Ozaki Miki fainted again and was placed in the hospital until her death. 

Everything seemed to go downhill for Makoto, the incarceration of his father, the death of his mother, and the wrongful conviction of his part in Kudo's shop. He knew at that moment, he had nothing left to lose. If society wanted to keep pushing him down into the gutter, he would rise from said gutter and make a name for himself; no more Ozaki Makoto. He wouldn't be tied back to that man. 

**Not ever.**

**Author's Note:**

> (1) "The government reportedly also prosecuted trafficking-related offenses using the Child Welfare Act, which broadly criminalized transporting or harboring children for the purpose of causing them to commit an obscene or harmful act and prescribed penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment, or a fine of up to 3 million yen ($27,310), or both. The Employment Security Act and the Labor Standards Act both criminalized forced labor and prescribed penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment or a fine not exceeding 3 million yen ($27,310)."
> 
> Retrieved from: 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report: Japan
> 
> So, who else has seen Case 4 already? I have, I loved it, I loved all the characters and plot, but I wanted something better for Makoto. I was crying in frustration at everything that was happening to him. He deserved something better, I wouldn't have even been mad with him if the plan he created in the middle of the con was real. I would have been 100% fine if it went down like that. Makoto just deserved better. That's it.


End file.
